Are rabid NBA fans taking heckling too far?
Rapper Drake’s verbal scrap with a Cleveland player is the latest chapter in an ongoing behavior saga.
“And maybe 99 out of 100 times, if not more, (the players) ignore it. I think they do a great job of not being distracted. And on occasion it becomes too much.”
Michele Roberts National Basketball Players Association executive director, who called verbal taunting from fans an “unfortunate part of the sport”
The scene turned nasty again during the NBA playoffs Tuesday night, and this time it was Drake, rapper and resident yapper at Raptors games, who helped give new life to an old question.
Does the NBA have a problem brewing between its players and fans?
That question was asked after the so-called “Malice at the Palace” in 2005, when a skirmish between the Pacers and Pistons spilled into the stands and players and fans fought each other at Detroit’s The Palace of Auburn Hills. There has been no such violence since, but this season there have been many examples of heated words between fans and players, including six players being fined for behavioral misconduct — such as obscene gestures or inappropriate language — directed at fans.
That’s twice as many incidents as were recorded in any season dating to 2009-10, according to the sports data website Spotrac. The six incidents do not account for Russell Westbrook’s altercations with fans in Salt Lake City during the first-round playoff series between the Thunder and Jazz or for the latest high-profile confrontation.
Drake, known for the good-natured, if slightly obnoxious, heckling he practices from his courtside seat at Air Canada Centre, on Tuesday became embroiled in the drama.
At halftime and immediately after the Cavaliers’ 113-112 overtime victory over Toronto, Drake verbally scrapped with Kendrick Perkins, a backup center for Cleveland who was inactive for the game but clearly ready for action. They were separated before the matter escalated.
Perkins spoke to USA TODAY just hours before his run-in with Drake about the fan-player interaction issue
and how it’s been present throughout his 14-year career.
“Me personally, I’ve heard some crazy stuff,” he said. “But that’s in every city. It’s pretty much any time you’re on the road. When you’re the away team, there’s going to be some drama.
“I’ve said something back to fans before. As grown men, you’re going to say things back. It happens. You’re going to retaliate in certain circumstances.”
The NBA, however, rejects the notion that such incidents demonstrate an emerging problem.
“We have seen a reduction in fan ejections and inappropriate interactions between players and fans this season, in part due to heightened focus and monitoring in this area, which included the introduction of the enhanced fan code of conduct,” Tim Frank, the NBA’s senior vice president for basketball communications, told USA TODAY. “We will continue to monitor these interactions going forward and adjust our policies as necessary.”
Bad behavior is ‘more normalized’
But behavioral issues inside NBA arenas might stem from the language and decorum used in the political arena.
That’s what Vassilis Dalakas suggests. He is chairman of the marketing department at California State University at San Marcos and has researched the behavior of sports fans.
“It’s a climate, and within this climate, this type of behavior is more normalized,” Dalakas told USA TODAY. “So if you feel our political leaders are representing this kind of behavior, that contributes more to the normalization of the behavior.
“That it’s OK to yell at somebody when you feel like yelling at somebody. And it’s OK to swear at somebody when you feel like swearing at somebody. And the more this type of behavior is normalized, the more likely we are to see people keep doing that behavior.”
Michele Roberts, executive director of the National Basketball Players Association, said she likes to think NBA fans are less prejudiced and better behaved than others. But she also said she became concerned about the interaction between fans and players after a couple of incidents early this season.
In fact, Roberts said she reached out to the league. “It wasn’t so much a complaint as a need to understand from the league what protocols were in place,” she said.
What Roberts said she discovered is the league had examined the issue closely and implemented new measures, of which the NBA confirmed several to USA TODAY.
Last spring, prompted by unruly fan behavior across sports, the NBA reviewed its policies regarding its code of conduct for ticketholders and regulating the player-fan interactions.
On Tuesday night, Drake should have been among those to have seen the evidence. Left on each seat near the court and seats near the tunnel where players, coaches and officials enter and leave the court are flyers labeled “Conduct Advisory.”
“During NBA games and in all NBA arenas, every fan is required to comply with the NBA’s Fan Code of Conduct,” it reads. “This is particularly important for fans (like you) with seats in close proximity to the playing court. Fans who act inappropriately will not be tolerated and may be subject to ejection from the arena and/or revocation of their tickets.
“We encourage you to enjoy the game and to cheer for our players and fans in a respectful way.”
The Fan Code of Conduct is available on the NBA’s website and portions of it are featured during PA announcements before games and at halftime. In short, behavior that will lead to automatic ejection includes touching or attempting to touch a player or anyone else involved in the game; throwing anything onto the court or walking onto the court; or ignoring warnings about abusive or profane language.
“I suspect that those enhanced efforts may have resulted in my ultimately concluding that we didn’t have a problem to be too terribly worried (about),” said Roberts, who was named executive director of the players union in 2014. “And then the thing happened with (Westbrook) and I was reminded that, yeah, we need to maybe see if we can do better.”
Westbrook was leaving the court after a season-ending loss in Salt Lake City on Friday when he walked past a fan hanging over the railing apparently recording video of him. “Get that phone out of my face,” Westbrook said.
Westbrook, who snapped at another fan earlier in the game, later said, “I didn’t confront fans; fans confronted me.”
Roberts said players are almost always provoked before fan-related incidents occur and she called verbal taunting from fans an “unfortunate part of the sport.”
“And maybe 99 out of 100 times, if not more, (the players) ignore it,” she said. “I think they do a great job of not being distracted. And on occasion it becomes too much.”
Players’ fault?
Robin Ficker, a once-notorious heckler who for 12 seasons sat behind the opposing team’s bench at Bullets/Wizards games in Washington, told USA TODAY the players bear responsibility.
“I think the most unflappable guy of all was David Robinson,” Ficker said, referring to the Hall of Famer who played for the Spurs from 1989 to 2003. “And I think what they should do is in the preseason is to have classes with Dave as the professor and they could do a little role play. You know, if the fans says this to you, what should you do? I know there are heated moments, but Dave was unflappable.
“These guys are earning a lot of money. They should be able to deal with fans that are trying to get a vicarious thrill by being there and making noise. The league needs to educate some of the players, and I think role play is the way to do it.”
Although he could be loud and annoying, Ficker was known for his creativity. After Vernon Maxwell of the Rockets charged into the stands and punched a fan in the face in 1995, for example, Ficker wore a catcher’s mask when he sat behind Maxwell and the Rockets bench for future games.
“I always kept it clean,” Ficker said. “I never swore. I never drank alcohol in games. I didn’t make any racial or sexual comments. And I had a lot of bantering back and forth, a lot of joke telling back and forth (with the players).
“If the league is getting worried about this, then maybe what they should do is do what hockey has done and put up glass, transparent barriers around the court.”
But erecting glass barriers around the court is about as likely as eliminating another variable — social media.
Case in point: The NBA fined Celtics guard Kyrie Irving $25,000 for inappropriate language, only after only Irving’s vulgar reply to a heckling 76ers fan came to the league’s attention through social media.
Someone had recorded the incident with a phone, of course.
Dalakas, the professor, sees a more profound and troublesome impact on regrettable behavior inside arenas.
“Now because of social media, you can have this explode and the entire world will see this in seconds,” he said. “So in a sense it’s a lot more normal than it might have been otherwise. I think that’s an important factor.”
While the NBA’s Frank said the league is not worried about the broader issue, a handful of players who spoke with USA TODAY shared mixed opinions.
Klay Thompson, the Warriors star who on Jan. 12 was the target of verbal abuse that led to a fan being ejected from a game against the Bucks in Milwaukee, praised arena security.
“Security has done a good job of taking care of fans who have been out of line,” Thompson said. “(Fans) can attack our character. They can talk mess about us, but just as long as they don’t go out of bounds with using people’s children and their families, it’s just over the line.”
Shaun Livingston, a Warriors guard, addressed the complicated dynamic. “It’s about customers, it’s about the fans, right?” he said. “So (the league is) doing everything in their power to make sure that they’re happy, they’re content, they’re satisfied, they’re getting their money’s worth. But at the same time, there has to be a level of respect on their end too, right?”
George Hill, a backup guard for the Cavaliers and in his 10th NBA season, said before Game 1 of the Cavaliers-Raptors series Tuesday night that fans have the advantage in verbal clashes.
“It’s worse (now) because they know when players react, it’s a fine for the players — it’s not the fan’s fault,” Hill said. It’s ‘ Players should’ve reacted differently’ or ‘ He has to keep his composure.’ We’re humans and no one likes a sign of disrespect.”
And after Tuesday night, it’s hard to dispute there is malice outside the Palace.